Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they combined the collection of regional rates in Northern Ireland and the administration of the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme under the Northern Ireland (Regional Rates and Energy) Act 2019; and whether the Northern Ireland Office or the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was responsible for that decision.

The Department for the Economy (DfE) delivers the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme in Northern Ireland. The £1.3bn figure was the DfE estimate assuming a scenario of the original 2012 tariffs remaining unchanged. It is of course now no longer relevant as these tariffs no longer apply.

On the combining of Rates and RHI into one Bill; Parliamentary Counsel advised last year that this was an appropriate pairing for these measures. Given the current pressures on Parliamentary time, and the limit on available legislative slots, we adopted exactly the same approach this year.

I welcome the commitment made by the Department for the Economy to appoint an independent chair to examine the cases of individuals who received funds from the RHI initiative and believe they have experienced hardship. The appointment of the Chair is a matter for that Department, but we will continue to work closely with DfE on this important matter.